The Honorable Member of Parliament representing Constituency 59 from the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) in Tonkolili District, Hon. Hassan A. Sesay has on Thursday 2ndMarch 2017, said Tonkolili District in Northern Sierra Leone, is the first district to achieve the 30% quota in the country.

Hon. Sesay said the achievement of the 30% quota is not by accident, they fought for it, considering that he is the Chairperson for Social Service Committee in the House of Parliament. HE therefore said that one of the issues that is central for the committee is addressing the fight for women’s right.

Hon. Hassan A. Sesay

He continued that this is the first achievement for Tonkolili district as it is the first district in the Parliament of Sierra Leone that has three women out of eight parliamentarians. He stressed that they have made that record and that they want to maintain it until the next parliament sessions.

Hon. Hassan A. Sesay made this frank disclosure in a personal interview with the Awareness Times Newspaper Parliament Reporter in the House of Parliament. He said Tonkolili district is a very pivotal district when it comes to voting for the APC. He maintained, Tonkolili is the only district in the North that has consistently voted the APC party since the introduction of voting system in the country and even when APC was in opposition. Hon. Sesay said they have been and will continue to be APC.

Hon. Sesay however called on other districts to follow the footsteps of Tonkolili district in Women Empowerment and by so doing; he said, they will be able to get more women in Parliament in the future.

He disclosed that they all supported the awarding of symbol to the newly elected female Member of Parliament, Hon. Rosemarie Bangura of Constituency 066. Hon. Sesay as chairman of the Tonkolili District Parliamentary Team, vowed to use his good office to convince other colleagues to empower women in their respective districts and at the end of the day, they will fulfill what the President has committed himself to in women’s empowerment.

Hon. Hassan A. Sesay challenged colleagues in other districts to see the need that in the success of any man, there is a hardworking woman. He said women need to be inclusive when it comes to participating in politics as women have only 21% of participants in politics of the country, and men are about 79%. He stressed that if women are not brought along, meaning they are living half of the population away from the politics.